Google acquires "Quickoffice" - the maker of mobile office suite for Smartphone and Tablets

   

Google announced that it has get over on one of the top creators of office applications for mobile devices. The  “Quickoffice” is a office suite that are pre-installed on mobile devices from some of the most popular smartphone sold viz. Samsung, HTC, Nokia, LG, Sony, Motorola etc. The application has been installed on over 300 million devices to the date, the company claims. The Quickoffice suite application is available for iOS, Android and Sybian devices.  Adding up to the pre-installed suite on some phones, the company also claims its two main products called “Quickoffice Pro” and “Quickoffice Pro HD” are among the top-ten paid apps in the Google Play market.

Quickoffice is an assortment of apps for creating, editing and sharing Microsoft Office documents such as Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Google alleged in a statement that it will convey the office technology to its Apps product suite.

Google complete statement is:

We're happy to announce that we have acquired Quickoffice, a leader in office productivity solutions.

Google + Quickoffice = get more done anytime, anywhere

Today, consumers, businesses and schools use Google Apps to get stuff done from anywhere, with anyone and on any device. Quickoffice has an established track record of enabling seamless interoperability with popular file formats, and we'll be working on bringing their powerful technology to our Apps product suite.

Quickoffice has a strong base of users, and we look forward to supporting them while we work on an even more seamless, intuitive and integrated experience.

We're excited to welcome the Quickoffice team and their users to Google.

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The War of the Smartphones

There is a battle in progress - the winner will take a profitable chunk out of the mobile phone market and with it the ad and app revenue generated therein. The problem is that the media, bloggers, journalists and even the public believe there is an on-going battle between Google and Apple/BlackBerry in progress. But in reality this isn't the case, far from it, in reality Apple and BlackBerry are competitors as they have handsets which use a proprietary operating system and then they spend a small fortune marketing the brand. Google does something else. It does not make handsets (granted the Nexus is a Google handset but made and co-branded by Samsung) and it does not sell its operating system (it gives it freely to handset manufacturers under terms which allow Google services to interact within the network and handset to generate advertising revenue).

This creates a quandary whereby Apple and RIM are creating in all intense and purposes 'lifestyle' devices incarceration within a pre-determined ecosystem and enclosed application-based environment but Google leaves the portcullis to the castle open to anyone able to adapt, develop and thereafter resell their software. The problem is that Apple/RIM are intoxicated by their own 'brand', although that is not to say Android isn't a brand it's just what that brand means and therein becomes associated with is completely different to anything Apple or RIM create and distribute.

Market share

So, what the issue here surrounds is that of the public perception whereby 'Google' is going to steal or beat Apple and RIM into inferiority within the smartphone market. However this just isn't the case, in reality a free Google product will help to see an increase in market share, but that does not mean Google captures that market share for its self. HTC or Samsung capture that market. We need to remember that Handsets and Operating Systems, partially due to the success of Android, have become divorced from one another. This cleavage creates a perception  problem and one that needs to be cleared up.

Android is battling BlackBerry and Apple

Apple makes the iPhone. The iPhone is in incredible piece of both technological and marketing accomplishment yet it's operating system iOS is confined to the Apple mobile computing environment. You cant install iOS on a BlackBerry 9780 or a HTC Sensation. So that means Android cannot be compared to Apple or BlackBerry in the same way. Yet, this is what has happened so far. The question is can this be healthy for the future of Android.

The argument about Android's open eco-system are predominantly based on the Wintel arguments of the 1990s where, generally perceived, PC manufacturers and Software manufacturers colluded to bring down quality and technical excellence so as they could compete on a race to the bottom. Price was everything and that's how Intel, Windows and HP/Dell or IBM won out! The arguments are transplanted into the twenty first century that Google's Android will with Samsung, HTC and Sony Erricson's help see 'excellence' eroded through a battle of 'dumbing down' and racing to the bottom and competing on price.

Customer Views'

Yet, the issue here is that we are arguing that BlackBerry and Apple, the undoubted smartphone pioneers, worked hard to keep their phones at a certain cost level so as to retain their incredibly profitable revenue streams from collapsing because of engineering excellence. Apple and RIM make billions from selling phones, so when Android came along and people like DoCoMo, Huwaei and HTC created mid-range phones offering similar experiences to the iPhone or BlackBerry but at a substantially reduced price this created the perfect storm to occur within the mobile phone market. Apple and RIM went tooth and nail for the premium customers whilst Android's open handset alliance went all out for the budget and mid-size customers. The result was the undoubtedly that Android would dominate the smartphone market. Android handsets are shipping at 3-1 to Apple or RIM handsets according to Catalyst/comScore but, importantly, to different customers. 

Apple and RIM are rivals but Google's Android isn't, yet, a competitive rival to these two smartphone rivals.

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Motorola Droid Xyboard review: CES 2012

The minute you get your hands on the Droid Xyboard, it is clear that this is a higher-caliber Android tablet while comparing with almost everything else available today. The tablet is sleek, properly balanced and felt comfortable in our hands. A completely new look, significantly enhanced performance and some productivity-oriented enhancements make it feel and look like a first-class business tablet.

The 10.1-inch tablet is powered with Android OS v3.2 (Honeycomb) which is upgradable to v4.0. Motorola Droid Xyboard is just 8.8 mm thin (0.35-inch) which gives the sleek and slim look. But it’s not thin as the Toshiba’s Excite X10 which is just 7.7 mm thin which is the thinnest tablet yet.  It has a 5MP rear camera and a 1.3MP camera on the front. The camera also has a autofocus fuction provided with LED flash which can produce 2592 x 1944 pixels.

The soft rubberized grips on the horizontal sides of the tablet gives a comfortable feel and slip-resistant, but also delicately strengthen the notion that this tablet should be held in landscape mode. The tablet uses an IPS (In-plane switching) panel which results in a bright, vibrant screen that aids readable quality in all lightning conditions.

The only drawback is, the Xyboard lacks the full-sized USB port and SD card reader that other tablets have. But, it does have an IR transmitter that support in tablet’s en suite Dijit app which helps to contol your home theater.

Highlights -

• Size: 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 pixels
• Weight: 599 grams
• Android OS, v3.2 (Honeycomb), upgradable to 4.0
• 1.2 GHz dual core TI OMAP 4 processor
• Camera: 5MP primary, autofocus, LED flash; 1.3 MP secondary
• 1 GB RAM
• 16 - 64 GB internal memory
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• Bluetooth
• Wi-Fi
• Battery: 7000 mAh; Talktime: 10 hours

Price -

Droid Xyboard is available for $479 for 16 GB version with two-years 4G contract. $579 for 32 GB; $679 for 64 GB; $699 for 16 GB Wi-Fi version.

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